


4: On a date

by Eyvaera



Series: The Very Slow 30 Day OTP Challenge 2015 [4]
Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: 30 Day OTP Challenge, M/M, Naegami, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-03-11 23:04:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3336092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eyvaera/pseuds/Eyvaera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>30 Day OTP Challenge.<br/>Prompt 4: On a date.</p>
<p>Set in-game, sometime during Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.<br/>The timeframe is unspecified and shouldn't contain any spoilers as no other characters are referenced, but it's certainly not set during Chapter 1 or 2.</p>
            </blockquote>





	4: On a date

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise in advance if there is any mischaracterisation. Although I have written for both characters before, I am still learning how to depict them.  
> I will also point out that I am using the phrasings and mannerisms of the English version of the PSVita game. Therefore, I refer to them both by their first names, and use "Ultimate". If this bothers you, this is advance warning.

* * *

If there was one place Byakuya Togami was almost guaranteed to be, it was the Library. It wasn't exactly hard to find him regardless of where he was in Hope's Peak Academy, for if he wasn't in one of the many rooms of the sealed building, he would be in his room. Still, Makoto felt a slight sense of relief every time he found him where he expected him to be. The memory of them all frantically searching for Byakuya one morning, and finding him quite alive and completely unconcerned at their worries in the Library was still fresh in his mind; the fear he'd felt before he saw him sat there had been slightly unexpected -- not in itself, for finding another friend dead was not something he'd wanted, but perhaps because of that word: 'friend'.

                It was not easy to call Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny -- and self-titled "Ultimate Perfection" -- a _friend_. The man was in some ways almost insufferable, with a level of arrogance and superiority that made his cutting remarks hit home just a little harder, for Makoto knew full well that they lived different lives -- that he was here because he was the Ultimate Lucky Student, not for some grand skill or ability that could perhaps cause Byakuya to begrudgingly respect him.

                Yet he'd persistently -- and with great patience -- sought out Byakuya time after time, trying to talk to him and get to know him. All the while, he'd had the sense that Byakuya was simply tolerating him, and yet despite his biting words he never full-out turned him away. If he didn't know better, he'd think that perhaps Byakuya was... getting used to him, if not fond of him.

               

                Makoto Naegi lingers for a different reason outside the Library door, a cup of drip-brewed Civet coffee in one hand and a book he'd borrowed from it in the other. He was sure that Byakuya would be within, but it wasn't facing him that gave Makoto pause. It was... something else.

Of late, Makoto had found himself appreciating parts of Byakuya he hadn't thought he would. Things such as his small smiles, more like smirks than a proper full-blown grin. Things like that little "heh" of a laugh he did when seemingly amused (or condescending), and the quiet but evident intelligence behind his bespectacled eyes. Glasses did not limit the handsome complexion of his face nor his body, but it was Makoto's recognition of this that had initially given him cause to reassess his opinion of the taller fellow student.

                Could it be that he... felt something for him?

                Makoto worries his lower lip and lingers for just a moment more. He cannot stay out here forever -- for one, the coffee will go cold, and then all the effort he went through to make it for Byakuya will be wasted. With a quiet sigh, he tucks the book under his arm and opens the door, quietly slipping inside and closing it behind him.

                There, as expected, is Byakuya Togami, sat in his usual chair with the lamp attached to an extension cord beside him. There's a cup set on a coaster atop the table too, but as Makoto approaches he notes that it's empty of contents -- perfect. As for the man in question -- who usually only glances towards the door to see who has disturbed his quiet reading -- he has his eyes decidedly fixed on Makoto and in particular the cup in his hand; the distinctive scent of the type of coffee within must be wafting over to him. Makoto pulls up a chair on the opposite side of the table and sets the cup down in front of Byakuya, whose expression minutely changes to one of slight suspicion. Makoto doesn't dignify the look with an assurance that no, he hasn't an ulterior motive (not a poisoning kind of one anyway), and after a moment or so Byakuya seems to come to the same conclusion. If there's one thing he doesn't believe Byakuya thinks of him as, it's a cold-blooded murderer.

               

                After Makoto has returned his book and selected a new one from the shelves, he settles down on the chair he'd pulled up, watching from across the top of the volume as Byakuya subtly breathes in the scent of the beverage before tasting it. Apparently satisfied after the initial sip, he takes a longer drink, allowing Makoto to sigh internally in relief.

                "Acceptable," comes the single-word reply from across the table, but Makoto can recognise that for what it is, and for the way he allows Makoto to shift the lamp slightly to cast some light over his pages as well. They sit like this for a while, but then his nerves start to play up -- those thoughts from earlier resurfacing. If he said something to Byakuya about them, would he reject him outright or...?

               

                "Byakuya, I--"

                "If you _must_ fidget, do so outside the room."

                "That's not what I--"

                "I come to the Library for quiet," Byakuya interrupts again, "not to converse with commoners." Makoto refuses to be put off; he's had worse insults from him.

                "But there's something I have to ask you."

                "Fine. Make it quick and then be quiet." That's not the best start, Makoto reasons, but not the worst, either. Summoning up his courage, he decides to just come out with it.

                "Would... would you like to... come on a date with me sometime?" He manages, voice quieter than its usual volume. Byakuya's eyes flicker up over the top of his book, but the surprise and other reactions Makoto had expected don't occur.

                "Isn't that what _this_ is?"

                _Wha..._ Now it's Makoto's turn to stare in shock at the other. "It... is?"

                "You forget how obvious you are." Those eyes return to the page, although Makoto is none the less confused.

                "But you... so you... don't object...?"

                "What I object to is you speaking while I am clearly reading. Be quiet."

 

                Makoto is left to sit in stunned silence, running over their brief conversation in his mind. Why would Byakuya think... before he'd said anything? He'd expected a 'you're too lowly for my tastes' retort, and yet...  
... Byakuya Togami looks just as nonchalant and indifferent to his presence as before, but the corner of Makoto's lips are tugging up into a smile.

                It's a start.


End file.
